Bank capital returns advance alongside enforcement and acquisition plans

OCC fines American Express National Bank $350 million for AML failures. Regulators cited about $13 billion in suspected trade-based money laundering activity processed from June 2014 to May 2025, including transactions associated with bank insiders. The OCC required an independent review of whether additional suspicious activity reports should have been filed. The Federal Reserve separately ordered American Express’s parent companies to submit remediation plans, adding control-repair obligations beyond the penalty.

TD receives regulatory approval for a C$10 billion share buyback. MarketScreener reports that approval covers 61 million shares. TD’s September 30 announcement had made the proposed program conditional on regulatory approval and targeted repurchases through July 2027. The bank completed a preceding C$7 billion buyback on September 25; the latest report establishes approval, not completion of the new purchases.

Citigroup announced a $30 billion buyback plan in July. Its July 14 filing also outlined a planned 12% dividend increase; buyback execution was not specified. An October 9 MarketBeat report puts the quarterly dividend at $0.67 per share without dating the increase.

Large banks’ second-quarter earnings beats reflected loan growth and strong credit quality. American Banker’s July review found that 14 of 15 banks with more than $100 billion in assets beat consensus earnings-per-share estimates, with capital-markets businesses materially boosting megabank results.

Third Coast Bancshares agrees to buy Great Plains Bancshares for $239.6 million in stock. The $1.9 billion-asset target is priced at 156% of tangible book value. The acquisition would deepen Third Coast’s Dallas presence and provide entry into Oklahoma City, with closing expected in the first quarter of 2027. Third Coast projects 14% earnings-per-share accretion in 2028; that remains a forecast for the pending transaction.

Byline Bancorp agrees to acquire Illinois State Bancorp for about $87.9 million. The cash-and-stock transaction would add four Chicago-area branches and a stable core deposit base, taking Byline above $10 billion in assets. Illinois State is the holding company for First Nations Bank and the Bank of Bourbonnais. Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027, so the additional deposits and scale remain prospective.

Swift’s blockchain ledger targets round-the-clock settlement using tokenized deposits. Swift Americas CEO Leigh Amaro described tokenized deposits as the ledger’s first use case in an October 9 interview. The earlier pilot involved 17 banks preparing to test live cross-border payments, including Citi, HSBC, BNY and Wells Fargo, with final settlement on existing payment rails. American Banker reported in September that Citi had begun using the ledger to extend its tokenized deposits beyond its own branches and clients, although integration across Swift members could take time.